User Reviews Are Late to Work…Again

Sucking the marrow from yet another lackluster week, you mighty reviewers managed to find plenty of comics to review for the benefit of others.  Or maybe it’s just to placate their own egos.  I know that’s why I’m here.  Anyway, moving on…

 

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Urthona brings us a very fair and even handed critical look at the new Image mini-series I Hate Gallant Girl. All I saw was “Miss Maine,” who is historically not as attractive as Mainers might have hoped. Not sure if that has anything to do with the book. I should move on again now. 

Story: 3 / Art: 2

The art (always a subjective criticism) by Seth Damoose is very cartoony, which plays well with the lighter mood of the story, but at times seemed rougher than it needed to be. In comparison, the current Hellcat mini over at Marvel has a lot of the same challenges and demands for the artist, but I think does a better job.

 

ButchCassidy, who I believe died in a hail of gunfire in Bolivia, nevertheless found a time to review the new collection of Warren Ellis’ webcomic Freakangels from Avatar. E.H. Harriman of the Union Pacific Railroad Company is pleased with the review. 

Story: 5 / Art: 5

I thought the writing and pacing were great, as we slowly meet all (but one) of the FREAKANGELS, which are all so well fleshed out. For a large cast, Ellis still manages to make each one very unique and interesting, with completely different personalities and powers (well, they seem to share some powers, but each seems to have their own specialty, which is all very cool). The Steam Punk stuff is only a part of this book, but the way it’s used makes it seem so bad-ass… not at all what I was expecting.

 

 

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CAM keeps the Warren Ellis train rolling and is just very happy with his work on Anna Mercury #4, which is apparently “good science fiction. 

Story: 5 / Art: 5

The good news is, Warren Ellis, who seems to be carving out quite a resume with the folks at Avatar, has got some seriously great Science Fiction here. Anna Mercury is a book that, on it’s surface, could be seen as a cheesecake-y action romp, and, in many ways it is. The thing is, you can’t write off a book just because it’s a little cheesecake, because there’s something more going on here.

It’s a world within a world story where we’ve affected another society through our actions, and changed it but not for the better. The result has created a fanaticism that threatens this other societies existence.

 

 

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chlop spends a lot of time talking about a book he didn’t like very much, and that is the Spider-Man: Back in Black collection, and he suffered no lack of explanation. 

Story: 2 / Art: 2

I can’t recommend this TP but the little vignettes about the city life (S.H.I.E.L.D., the local police, the Daily Bugle etc.) are nice and I enjoyed them, so maybe pick up a trade of Sensational Spider-Man if you’re interested in that sort of thing – I am and I’ll buy a trade soon. It’s the 2000s Sensational Spider-Man which is the second one, and it started according to Wikipedia under the Marvel Knights line. It would be interesting to get a trade of the original 1990s Sensational Spider-Man.

 

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And there you have it.  If you’re down with Warren Ellis, this might have been the week for you.  Otherwise…not so much.  Read the rest of the reviews here, and we’ll see you next week.